The Controlled AC Power Strip is designed for AC power control and rebooting applications. It provides a great deal of flexibility in meeting small to large multi-unit requirements while achieving a new low price point for this type of requirement. The unit has three AC outlet pairs, each of which can be separately controlled. This lowers the price to under $43.00 per controlled device or under $22.00 each per controlled pair.

Daisy Chain themFor expanded requirements, up to ten units can be daisy chained together through the RJ-11 "Control Ports". Any of the units can then be individually accessed along with each of the three AC outlet pairs on each unit, from one control source. Up to 30 separate devices or 60 pairs could be individually controlled in a ten-unit daisy chain.

Each power strip is rated at 110-125V 15 amps. A ten-unit Daisy Chain could support 150 amps or 16,500 watts. Global power ON commands have an inherent delay to prevent circuit sags. Each power strip also has a high level surge protector on both the AC outlets and the control ports.

Serial Port ControlThe CPS can be controlled locally through the serial port of a local PC/server. All that is required is an optional RJ Serial Port Filtered Adapter that connects the PC's 9 pin serial port to the RJ-11 "Control Port" on the Power Strip. This allows the local PC/server to send power ON/OFF/RESET commands to any or all of the three AC outlet pairs on any power strip or up to 30 in a daisy chain.

ConfigurationThe serial port is also used to configure the CPS. The "Box Address" (Default is 0) along with some of the operating parameters and delay times can be changed as required. You can also inquire about any of the settings. They are confirmed by audible "beeps".

A Ring Count Trigger can also be set to automatically reboot on xx unanswered rings. Simply connect a phone line to the Power strip. This is great for a DSL modem where the ring could be sent over the normal POTS line frequency. However, if this is the sole requirement, it may be served more economically by using the Automatic Ring Rebooter (ARR).

Remote ControllersThese are used to control the CPS from remote locations.

Internal Touch Tone Control Option "ITTO"

This economical option allows direct control (ON/OFF/RESET) of the CPS from any Touch-Tone keypad (land phone, cell or modem). It also provides multi-level password and status inquiry as to the setup and AC power state. The responses are in the form of "Beeps" (long beep = OFF Short = ON). Previously an External TelCo Controller was required.

ITTO can also share the line with other devices (phone, fax, TAD, but no inbound modems). It also allows some of the set up preferences to be changed remotely as well. The commands may also be appended to a modem's AT dial string for more automated entry, even though there is no modem at the CPS end. Multiple ITTOs/ARRs with different passwords may also be connected to the same phone line.

Multi-Port Controller, use this when you want to connect several CPSs in multiple daisy chains (3 or 8 port models), with touch tones.

IP Controller, use for remote control over the Internet or any IP network.

Free SoftwareSerial Net allows the serial Control Commands to be sent to the "control PC/server" at remote location over a TCP/IP network.

Auto Ping software program may also be run on the local Windows based PC to automatically send RESET commands to the appropriate power strip/outlet resulting from a failed return ping. It can ping other IP's at the Power Strip site or ping "out" through a router and modem (controlled devices). Normally used to RESET locked up network equipment.

Heartbeat is normally used to automatically RESET servers that may hang from time to time. It connects to the serial port of the server and resets the server if it fails to send a periodic heartbeat from its serial port. A DLL is also available to incorporate into your application.

AC Power Command ExamplesThese examples are presented to provide a feel as to what is required to send an AC Power Command via: a Serial (RS-232/USB) Port, External Controller, Modem or the Internal Touch Tone Controller (ITTO).

A typical serial port command to RESET POWER on Box #2, Port #1 is

*213

Where "*" is the attention code, "2" is the box address, "1" is the address for the AC Outlet and "3" is the "Action Command",("1" = ON and "2" = OFF)

If this were sent as a touch-tone command through an External Telephone Line Controller, it would be preceded with the controller #, Password (up to six numbers), and the Port number of the Controller (multi-port units) that the Power Strip is attached to:

# 8 Password Port 213#

This could also be sent from a modem by appending it to the AT dial string. Even though there may not be a modem at the Power Strip end.

ATDT 7709450643@ # 8 Password Port 213#

Wild card and Global Commands are also available.

*PON This "global Command" will turn ON all of the ports on all of the boxes according to the delays applied in the setup*POF will turn them all OFF*#31 This "wild card Command" (#) will Turn ON the power on port 3 of all of the boxes in a daisy chain. The wild card can be used in any or all positions.

To send this command via Touch-Tones to the Internal Controller (ITTO) enter

# Password # "bb" #013.

The manual ON/OFF switch can also be used to power the CPS ON or OFF. It will power ON according to the preferences that you selected.

The Controlled Power Strip is an extremely flexible multi-use package for the price. It makes a nice compact configuration for a 2-3 server installation or a VoIP modem, router and server bundle or even for a large bank of servers. You can't find a better rebooting deal anywhere, and consider the fact that it is compatible with CPS's FREE automatic RESET software which is like having a "reset person" at each location 24x7. This means that you could let a PC/server at the remote site control the whole shebang automatically. You won't even have to get out of bed to send a Reset Command.

FAQQ. Since the Controlled Power Strip can be daisy chained, why would I need a multi-port TelCo Controller (FTS)?A. It minimizes the requirement, but it could be used if you wanted to have three separate daisy chains (30 units or 90 separately controlled AC outlet pairs). Or you could put your old ARRs on one or two of the ports and start a new daisy chain on another port.

Q. Will my current N-RRC "IP Network Controller" work with the CPS?A. Yes, and now you can get more out of it. If you already have a daisy chain with other addressable devices, you can simply add the Controlled Power Strip to it. Any of the following Controllers will support the addressable features of the Controlled Power Strip. SP-RRC, FTS, N-RRC.

Q. Do I need to send a separate command for each Controlled PS?A. Normally that is the case, but you can also use a wild card for the address or outlet pair character. Or you could make all of the addresses the same, or group them. There a lot of games that you can play.

Q. When using a TelCo line controller, can I control the startup sequence of different devices with one phone call?A. When using a single command with a wild card, there is a programmable power ON delay between various units in a daisy chain of up to 18 seconds. It is multiple of the box address (0-9). You could also play with the "Reset OFF Time delay". It could be up to 90 seconds. In other words when you do a wild card RESET on multiple power strips, one may resume power in 5 seconds and the other in up to 90 seconds. You could also simply change the "port separation delay".

Q. Why use an external Touch-tone Controller and a daisy chain when I could put multiple ITTOs on the same line?A. Cost. It would be cheaper to buy a SP-RRC controller than put to three or more ITTOs on the same line. On some of the other lower end power strips (ARR and ARR+) ITTO is a little less expensive so the justification as to the number of units also changes. On the basic ARR there is no daisy chain capability, so ITTO is the only way to put multiple units on the same line.